1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to nanotweezers that hold and release a nanoscale material by way of closing and opening the tip end portions of nanotubes of which the base end portions are fastened to a holder and more particularly to an operation method of nanotweezers wherein the nanotweezers hold a nonoscale raw material on a specimen surface and release the nanoscale material after being moved to an objective position.
2. Prior Art
Nanotweezers that use nanotubes were first disclosed in the ‘Science’ magazine in 1999 (P. Kim, and C. M. Lieber, Science, Vol. 286 (1999) p. 2148). The nanotweezers were constructed by fastening two carbon nanotubes to two electrodes fixed at the tip end of a glass tube, and the nanotubes are controlled so as to be opened and closed by static electricity.
The article of the ‘Science’ magazine describes, along with photo pictures, two nanotubes that are opened and closed by way of applying a direct voltage of 0 to 8.5 volt between the electrodes. The photo pictures show the nanotweezers picking up a nanocluster of a nanoscale polystyrene or SiC from a sample source.
Furthermore, the article describes that a scanning tunnel microscope (STM) or a scanning type probe microscope (SPM) such as an atomic force microscope (AFM) can be used in order to handle micro-materials and observe the physical properties of such micro-materials.
However, holding nanoscale materials with two nanotubes and taking them out from a group of raw materials cannot accomplish the object of nano-technology that constructs a nanoscale construction. Such object is only accomplished by a process that moves nanoscale materials to an objective position and construct a nanoscale construction by way of putting the nanoscale materials at the objective position.
The article referred to above does not describe at all concerning how to combine AFM apparatuses and nanotweezers and how to relate coincidentally both of them. Thus, the relationship between AFM apparatuses and nanotweezers are quite obscure. Unless a combination of AFM apparatuses and nanotweezers and a systematic operation method of nanotweezers with the use of AFM apparatuses are established, the practical use of nanotweezers cannot be developed.